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D.X. Ferris of the Riverfront Times last month spoke to the veteran St. Louis drummer Chad Smith (not the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS percussionist of the same name) about Chad's involvement with BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler's GZR project. An excerpt from the chat follow below:

Riverfront Times: How'd you get the Geezer gig?

Chad Smith: Believe what you want, as far as I'm concerned, I got the gig due to an answered prayer. I remember being on my knees, asking for an opportunity to prove to myself that I wasn't just wasting my time and causing my family to needlessly suffer while I pursued a profession in music. A short time later I received a phone call from Terry Welty of [production company] Airco, asking me if I would be interested in checking out the gig. Terry and I worked together in the early stages of LEX LUTHOR, which was Jerry Boschert, Mark Quinn, John Kiehne and myself. And he was working with a band managed by [Geezer's manager and wife] Gloria Butler. Gloria was having trouble finding a replacement for Deen Castronovo when he left to join JOURNEY. Terry put me forward. I was then asked to record performances of three [GZR] tunes: "House of Clouds", "Plastic Planet" and "Drive Boy Shooting". And later an audition was set up.

Riverfront Times: How long does the gig have you booked up?

Chad Smith: GZR hasn't performed for several years due to Geezer's SABBATH [and HEAVEN & HELL] commitments, but we are writing and planning to release more material. I still haven't been officially asked to do the GZR gig, but I did do the [1997 album] "Black Science" tour and the last record [2005's "Ohmwork"], so I think I got it! I consider myself Geezer's drummer until told otherwise. I really enjoy our friendship. He's a very intelligent person and a killer bass player.

Riverfront Times: What's the GZR setlist like?

Chad Smith: The GZR set consists of material from the [band's] three releases. Occasionally we would play [SABBATH's] "NIB" [the classic named after Butler's goatee] or "Hand Of Doom".

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